Portable computing devices, including laptop computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), and cellular telephones, among others, are increasingly being used to communicate with other computing devices using network connections. Among the most prevalent of network connection types is a wireless network, typically implemented using an IEEE 802.11x protocol, sometimes called WiFi. Other network connection systems include IEEE 802.16 (WiMax) and Bluetooth. In order for these devices to be able to access and communicate over a wireless network, the devices usually have to be pre-configured with a variety of network access parameters including a network identifier and a network key, among others.
The need to pre-configure devices with network access parameters presents at least two problems. First, methods for configuring network access parameters frequently vary from device to device. Second, each device usually has to be configured individually. The task of configuring a large number of devices can be prohibitively time-consuming. The magnitude of both these problems is compounded in cases when a network administrator needs to configure devices to access more than one wireless network. In some cases, a device may be incapable of being configured to access more than one wireless network at a time. Current systems and methods fail to adequately assist network administrators with the task of configuring portable computing devices to access wireless networks.